“Don’t tell me…” Zinnia’s heart felt like it was about to burst right then.
Her legs trembled as she stepped closer to Cassian’s room; with every step she took, the fear in her heart grew.
Deep down, Zinnia prayed this wasn’t what she thought it was; she hoped Cassian was still there, safe and sound.
When Zinnia reached the door, it felt as if her heart was about to leap out of her chest when she saw Cassian lying sprawled on the floor with shards of glass scattered beside him.
“Cassian!” Zinnia immediately ran toward Cassian, overcome with panic.
“Ugh!” Cassian groaned in pain.
Zinnia could feel her hands getting wet again, just like before; she was a little traumatized to find her hands and body covered in blood, just like the night before.
But fortunately, there wasn’t much blood on her hands, so Zinnia calmed down a bit, even though she was still worried sick because Cassian’s wound had reopened.
“Oh my God, can’t you just stay calm for one day!” Zinnia’s sharp words began to spill from her mouth.
Even so, Zinnia still helped Cassian get up and laid him back down on the bed.
“Your wound has reopened…” Zinnia glanced at Cassian’s body, which was covered in bandages.
The white bandages had turned reddish, and Zinnia let out a soft sigh.
“Did you get hurt again just now?” Zinnia asked as she took bandages and other medical supplies from the nightstand drawer.
“No,” Cassian replied briefly, still enduring the pain from his reopened wound.
Silently, Zinnia unwrapped the bandages, cleaned the wounds again, and then rebandaged them with fresh ones.
“So, what actually happened that made you fall like that?” Zinnia shot a sharp glance at Cassian.
“I got up to get a drink, didn’t make it, I fell, and the glass fell, boom.” Cassian rolled his eyes lazily as he explained what had happened.
Zinnia smacked Cassian’s leg hard while glaring at him sharply upon hearing that explanation.
“You! I thought someone had attacked you again, but you look so relaxed!” Zinnia gritted her teeth in frustration.
“Ouch! Why did you hit me?” Cassian glared back at Zinnia.
“Take that! You deserve it!” Zinnia turned her face away, too annoyed to respond.
After making sure Cassian was safe, Zinnia glanced at the floor where shards of glass were still scattered.
Without hesitation, Zinnia got up from the edge of the bed and crouched on the floor to clean up the broken glass.
“I don’t think so; I don’t feel any pain anywhere else,” Cassian replied calmly.
Even so, Cassian stared intently at Zinnia, still unaccustomed to her behavior, which he found strange.
It was unthinkable that a young lady who had always been pampered since childhood would act like this, picking up glass shards, a task that should have been done by a maid.
“I didn’t expect you to be willing to clean up those glass shards,” Cassian said without much thought.
Zinnia turned to look at Cassian.
“So, are you going to clean them up? It’s just you and me here; who else is going to do it besides me?!”
Cassian shrugged indifferently.
“You can wait until Anna gets back.”
Seeing just how annoying Cassian was right now, Zinnia felt like punching him in the face.
“You should be grateful you’re injured right now; otherwise, I would’ve hit you ages ago!” Zinnia stood up, carrying the broken glass.
“Just sit here quietly; I’ll make a potion for you,” Zinnia continued as she strode out of Cassian’s room.
“You’re not planning to poison me, are you?!” Cassian shouted from inside the room, though a faint smile was visible on his face.
Meanwhile, Zinnia grumbled in annoyance all the way to the kitchen.
It didn’t take long for Zinnia to gather the ingredients she needed and begin boiling her potion.
While waiting for the potion to come to a boil, Zinnia was lost in her thoughts.
“Whose footprints were those, anyway? Could someone else have sneaked into the manor?” Zinnia murmured softly as she thought hard.
The thing was, when Zinnia had been gathering the broken glass earlier, the corner of her eye had caught something strange.
There was another set of footprints in Cassian’s room, and Zinnia was certain they weren’t hers or Cassian’s.
“The footprints are bigger than mine, and the dust trail is thicker; they can’t possibly be Cassian’s because he’s been in his room all day.” Zinnia rubbed her chin thoughtfully.
“Should I ask Cassian about it?” Zinnia took a deep breath and exhaled sharply.
It was a little difficult for Zinnia to ask Cassian about this directly, especially given his previous reaction.
Most likely, Cassian wouldn’t tell her the truth, so Zinnia thought about keeping it to herself.
But their situation would be in danger if Zinnia just let it slide.
Especially if her silly hunch was right, that someone else had sneaked into the manor.
Zinnia’s attention was pulled back to reality when she heard the sound of the potion coming to a boil.
Then, she poured the potion into a bowl.
She glanced around to make sure no one was watching her.
Once she was sure everything was safe, Zinnia took out the healing potion, which was now down to half its original amount, from her inventory and poured it into the bowl.
Zinnia walked back to Cassian’s room; fortunately, he had obeyed her and was sitting quietly on the bed.
“Drink this,” Zinnia said after she sat down at the edge of the bed.
“It’s safe, right?” Cassian glanced briefly at Zinnia before taking the bowl.
Zinnia rolled her eyes.
“If I’d intended to poison you, I would’ve done it a long time ago!”
Cassian chuckled softly, then drank the potion in the bowl in one gulp.
Zinnia took the bowl back after Cassian finished the potion, then placed it on the nightstand.
“I hope the potion works well,” Zinnia said afterward.
Quietly, Zinnia watched Cassian; she wanted to see how the healing potion would take effect.
She wanted to make sure the healing potion wasn’t so potent that it would make Cassian suspicious.
“Thank you. I’m in your debt again,” Cassian finally said.
“No problem. That just means you’ll have to work for me longer,” Zinnia replied, her chin held high.
Zinnia fell silent for a moment afterward before finally speaking again.
“So… what happened to you last night? Your injuries from last night were worse than before,” Zinnia said softly, a hint of uncertainty in her voice.
Cassian didn’t answer right away; he remained silent at first, his gaze fixed outside the window.
His face looked stiff, his emotions unreadable.
Zinnia watched him in silence, unsure whether Cassian would answer her question.
Given how he’d previously gone to great lengths to keep his presence a secret from others, Zinnia would completely understand if he didn’t want to tell her anything.
Even so, Zinnia hoped Cassian could trust her just a little.
“Someone attacked me … like before.” Cassian snorted harshly, his eyes sharp and filled with anger.